A new home, a new life
by LukeNLorelaifanatic
Summary: Lorelai runs away from home at sixteen and lands in the tiny town of Stars Hollow. There, she starts her new life as a student at Stars Hollow High and a maid at the Independance Inn. She makes new friends as she adjust to her new life, one of them a boy
1. New beginning

She stepped off the bus, facing a sign in front of her. Welcome to Stars Hollow, Population 9,973.

_You're definitely not in Hartford anymore._ she thought.

She looked at her surroundings. Kids running around chasing each other, a balding man with a beard yelling at a young boy he called Kirk, two women, one blonde the other brunette, huddled close together talking, people walking by, a scene she wasn't used to seeing. There was grocery store called Doose's, a post office, a building with a sign hanging over the doorway saying William's Hardware, a Miss Patty's Dance Studio, and a little ways down was a little bakery named Weston's.

She looked at the little bakery. She was hungry, and she could really go for some coffee about now. She had little money, but figured she'd be able to buy a cookie and a small coffee. She walked in the direction of the bakery, stares following her. She kept her head straight ahead, not determined on showing how nervous, how scared, she was.

_Maybe they aren't used to new people. It is a small town, after all._

She entered the bakery and walked over to the counter where a nice looking old lady stood behind.

"Hello dear, how may I help you?" the lady asked.

"Um," she said, looking up at the menu. "I'll have a chocolate chip cookie and small coffee please."

"Coming right up." the lady behind the counter said and reached her tongs under the counter, pulling out a cookie. She placed it on a napkin, then turned around and poured some coffee into a cup.

"Here you go." the lady said, handing over the cookie and coffee. "That'll be $1.50."

"Thank you." she said, digging through her wallet and handing over the money. She began to head over to a table when she turned back around and walked back up to the counter.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I was wondering... do you know if anyone around here is looking to hire someone?" she asked the lady.

The lady looked over her and then looked down. The young girl in front of her was carrying an overnight bag in her hand.

_Poor girl. Looks like she ran away. Or maybe she was kicked out... She can't be older than sixteen. She must really need some help._

"Hmm.. let's see... I think Mia from the Independance Inn is looking for a new maid."

"Really? Could you give me directions there?"

"Of course dear, what is your name?"

"Lorelai. Lorelai Gilmore."

"Are you new here?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well Lorelai, welcome to Stars Hollow, and my name is Fran. Fran Weston. But you can just call me Fran."

"Nice to meet you Fran." Lorelai said, giving a shy smile.

"Same to you dear. Now, to get to the Inn, you just go down Peach..." Fran gave Lorelai directions, writing them down for her in case she forgot. "... and then you should end up at the Inn."

"Thank you so much."

"Anytime. Come by again if you ever need anything." Fran said and smile at her.

"I will." Lorelai said, returning the smile.

She walked out of the bakery, eating her cookie and drinking her coffee on the way. She pulled her jacket a little closer to her; it was a little chilly outside. It was mid-October and winter was on its way. She walked down the streets, observing everything around her. The trees leaves were birght, vibrant colors of red, orange, and yellow. Two teenage girls sat in a gazebo in the middle of town, talking. Dogs barked and children giggled. She tossed her empty coffee cup and napkin in a trash can on the side walk and continued on her way.

A few minutes later, she found her destination. She took a deep breath before heading into the Inn. When she entered, she stood in the lobby for a minute and looked around her. She nervously walked up to the front desk and a woman with a name tag that said 'Mia' stood behind it looked and up at her.

"Hello, how may I help you?" Mia asked.

"Hi, um, a lady named Fran from Weston's said you might be looking to hire a new maid." Lorelai told her.

"Here, lets go into my office." Mia said, walking behind the desk, placing a hand on Lorelai's back, and leading her into the office.

Mia gestured for the young girl to sit in a chair in front of her desk before going behind it and sitting down. Lorelai sat down in the chair and placed the bag on the ground.

"What's your name sweetie?"

"Lorelai Gilmore."

"And how old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Mia nodded, looking at the girl and then at the bag down on the floor beside her.

_God, there's no way she or anyone else in this town is going to hire a sixteen year old runaway._ Lorelai thought to herself.

"Do you have any experience as a maid?"

"Um, no, not really. But I used to help out my mother's maids sometimes." she said.

Mia nodded again, looking back down at her bag. She looked into the girls bright blue eyes and couldn't help herself from wondering...

"Honey, where are your parents?"

Lorelai looked down at the floor, playing with her hands. "I ran away..." she said very quietly.

Mia looked at the girl again. She wondered what had happened to this girl to make her runaway, but she felt it wasn't her place to ask. She really didn't think this young, unexperienced girl was cutout for the job, but she couldn't turn her down. She couldn't say no to a homeless child.

"How soon will you be able to start?" Mia asked her.

Lorelai's head shot up, suprised. Was this woman really going to hire her? "Uh... anytime. Now, if you want."

Mia smiled at her. "How about tomorrow? You can work from four to nine."

"I can work early than that if you'd like."

"Lorelai, are you in school?"

Lorelai looked at the ground once more and shook her head.

"Well, how about I make you a proposition? I'll hire you as long as you go back to school."

"Oh, thank you. Really. This is a big help." Lorelai said, smiling.

"You are very welcome." Mia smiled back at her. "And I assume you have nowhere to stay, do you? You did say you ran away, correct."

Lorelai nodded her head.

"Well, there's a potting shed out back, if you'd like to stay in there. It's not much, but I bet with a little sprucing up we can turn it into a nice, comfortable little home for you."

"That would be great, thank you."

"Of course. Here, I'll show you to it."

Mia led Lorelai out to the back and into the potting shed. The place needed a good cleaning, but at least it was a place to stay.

"Here, I can take you shopping for a few necessities."

"Oh.. um... I don't have much money."

"That's ok dear, I can help you."

"Oh, no, really, I couldn't..."

"Don't be silly, take it as a... a welcoming gift." Mia said and smiled at her.

"Ok, then. Thank you." she smiled back.

Mia took Lorelai around town shopping and giving her a tour along the way. They came back and spent the last half of the day cleaning the potting shed, turning it into a new home for Lorelai. When they had finished, the place didn't look half bad. There was a little bathtub with a pink curtain shower in the corner of the room, a two seater couch, not very comfortable, but a couch all the same, in front of a coffee table at the front of the room. Then there was a bed Mia happened to have had as an extra and had give to Lorelai in the back corner of the room, a sink, refrigerator filled with groceries, and small kitchen table.

"Well, Lorelai, I better get going. You will enroll in school tomorrow right?"

"Yes ma'am." she nodded.

"Good. You should probably wake up at seven. School starts at eight-thirty and you might want to get a head start so you can enroll."

"Ok, and thank you, again. You've been a major help to me."

"It was my pleasure." Mia said and smiled at her. "I will see you tomorrow at four."

"Tomorrow at four." Lorelai said, nodding.

Mia waved goodbye walked out. Lorelai turned around and faced the room. It was a lot different from the home she had come from, but it was a home none the less. She was living in an entirely different world now. This was not a place of high society, where husbands worked important jobs, wives stayed at home organizing parties and planning events, spoiled brats crashed porche's two hours after getting them knowing daddy would be there to bail them out of trouble. A place where big, huge houses in gated communities were seperated from the lower class, where maids weren't hired, you weren't forced to attend perposterous events, such as coming out balls, forced to live the lives of your parents... no, that was the place she had run away from, the life she had run away from. And this is where she ended up, Stars Hollow.

_Well, welcome to your new home, your new life, Lorelai._


	2. First Day

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Ugh, shut up." Lorelai mumbled to the alarm clock, covering her head with a pillow.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Fine, I'm up, I'm up." she said, rolling over and shutting off the alarm clock.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around. It took her a second to remember where she was. She wasn't in the bed she was used to waking up in, and the room was the complete opposite of the one that belonged to her. The bedspread was different, the dollhouse that was still in its glass case was missing from the corner, the window on her right hand side which she had snuck out of so many times was just a blank stretch of wall. Then everything that had happened the previous day came back to her. Running away, hopping on a bus, landing in Stars Hollow, Weston's, Fran, Mia, the Inn, being hired as a maid, moving into the potting shed, and enrolling back into school... today.

_Oh God, I start school today. Man, what am I going to wear? What will it be like? Will I make friends? Will any of the kids like me? What if I don't fit in? Or if I trip down the hall? Or can't open my locker?_

She got out of bed, beginning to feel the butterflies in her stomach as she hopped into the shower. When she got out, she made some coffee, in desperate need of it, and looked through her various outfits, trying to find the perfect one. She chose her favorite pair of jeans and her black Pat Benatar t-shirt. She put on her aqua and black beaded necklaces with their matching bracelets. Next, she did her hair, making it wavy. She checked herself in the mirror to make sure she looked ok. When she was satisfied, she went over to her bag and dug through it. She pulled out a file that said Lorelai Gilmore on it. Before she had left the Gilmore mansion, she had gone into her fathers office and dug through the file cabnit. Inside the file was her birth certificate, old report cards, and other important stuff. She had taken it just in case she would need it, which was lucky.

She grabbed her new backpack and spirals along with other supplies and walked out of the potting shed, her new home. When she opened the door, she saw Mia with her fist up, about to knock.

"Lorelai, I see you're already up." Mia said with a smile.

"Yeah, I thought I'd get and early start." she said nervously.

"Well, don't you worry. You are going to love Stars Hollow High. Have you eaten?"

"Oh, no, I don't think my stomach can hold anything right now."

"You'll do fine. Come, I'm going with you to help you get enrolled."

"Really? Thank you." Lorelai said appreciatively.

"Anytime. Let's go."

Mia drove Lorelai to the school and together they walked in to the attendance office. The were seated while they waited to see the principal.

"Lorelai Gilmore?" a man in a sharp looking suit, much reminding her of her father, called.

"That's me." Lorelai said, standing up.

"Hello, I'm Principal Brooks. Why don't you follow me into my office." he said, and led them down a short hallway leading to his office. "Please, sit."

Lorelai and Mia sat down in the two seats in front of his desk.

"Mia, hello, it's nice to see you." Mr. Brooks said politely.

"It's nice to see you, too, Adam. I'm just here to help Lorelai enroll." Mia said, patting Lorelai's hand.

"Well, Lorelai, I think you'll like it here at Stars Hollow High. Now, all we need are a few things from you. Do you have your birth certificate and your schedule from your previous school?"

"Yes sir, right here." Lorelai said, handing him her folder.

He took the folder and looked through it. After a few minutes, he looked up at Lorelai.

"Well, everything seems to be in order here. Your GPA is quite impressive. I think putting you in some more advanced classes would make you feel more at home here. That is, if that's all right with you."

"Yes, that would be fine." Lorelai said. Her previous school was a private one filled with braniacs. If it had been her choice, she would have gone to a public school, but her parents were against it. The classes there were more difficult, so she was used to being challenged.

"Ok then, I'll just have the councelor make you your schedule and get you settled in." he told her. "Mia, may I talk to you outside please?"

"Of course." she said, standing up and following him.

Once outside, Mr. Brooks faced Mia.

"Mia, do you know where her parents are?"

"I'm sorry to say Adam that I don't. She showed up yesterday at the Inn looking for a job. She said she had run away, but I didn't ask why. For all I know, she could have been living in a bad household. I just couldn't turn her down, so I gave her a job and a place to live as long as she agreed to go back to school."

"I see. Should we have the councelors talk to her? See if they can figure out why she ran away?"

"No, I think the poor girl's been through enough. I'll talk to her soon, find out what happened. But I want to see if she will come to me first."

The principal nodded. "Ok, so are you going to be acting as her guardian?"

"If that would be ok, then yes."

"That would be fine." he told her. "Well, I better go and have the councelors make her schedule. You two make yourselves comfortable and I'll be back soon."

Mia walked back into the office and sat back down beside Lorelai who was playing nervously with her hands.

"There's nothing to worry about. I'm sure you'll fit right in. The people here are pretty welcoming." Mia assured.

Lorelai nodded and gave her a small smile, hoping she was right. A few minutes later, Mr. Brooks walked back in.

"Ok Lorelai, you're all set. Here is your schedule, locker number, combination, and books." he said, placing the books and paper in her arms.

Lorelai took the stack of books, careful not to drop them. "Thank you."

"I'll have our office aid show you around to your class." he said, walking out of the office, followed by Lorelai and Mia. "Sookie, can you come here please?"

A friendly looking girl with red hair came over to them. "Yes, Mr. Brooks?"

"Sookie, this is Lorelai Gilmore. Lorelai, this is Sookie St. James." he said introducing the girls.

"Hi." Sookie said, smiling at Lorelai and waving.

"Hi." Lorelai smiled back, but unable to wave due to the heavy stack of books in her arms.

"Sookie, would you please show Lorelai to her class?"

"Sure." Sookie said, leading Lorelai out of the office.

"Have a good day dear. Good luck!" Mia said, smiling at Lorelai.

"Bye." Lorelai said and followed Sookie out.

"So, your new, huh? Where'd you come from?"

"Harford."

"Ohhh, fancy. What grade are you in?"

"Eleventh. You?"

"Same. Hey! Maybe we'll have some classes together. Can I see your schedule?"

"Yeah, it's on top of the stack." Lorelai said, nodding her head to the books.

Sookie took the schedule and looked it over.

"Wow, these are some advanced classes. It's all AP. You're taking twelfth grade English?"

"It's my easiest subject."

"I'm only good at cooking. That's the only skill I have."

"That's my worst skill." Lorelai laughed and so did Sookie.

"Hey, we have French and P.E. together."

"Cool, what periods?"

"French third and P.E. fifth. We also have lunch together."

"Thank God I'll know somebody."

"I can't wait to introduce you to the rest of the group. You'll meet them at lunch. Here's your locker." Sookie said, stopping in front of locker 2234. "I'll open it for you, seeing as you have your hands full."

"Thank you."

Sookie opened up her locker and helped her place her books inside and closed it shut.

"Ok, now, off to English." Sookie said and started walking off, Lorelai beside her. "You like Pat Benetar?" she asked, refering to her shirt.

"Oh, yeah, she's pretty cool."

"I like her, too. I begged my parents to let me go to her concert, but they thought it would be too dangerous."

"Aw, that sucks. I got to go."

"Really? Lucky!"

"My ex-boyfriend bought me tickets for my birthday."

"Ohh, wish I had a boyfriend to buy me tickets to a concert."

"Ugh, he was a jerk. That's why we broke up."

"I hate guys who are jerks."

"Yeah, I caught him with some leggy blonde and I was done."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. "

"Well, here we are. I'll see you in third."

"Ok, see you then."

"It was nice meeting you."

"You too. Bye."

"Bye."

Lorelai smiled as Sookie waked away. She had made her first friend and it had been easy as pie. Now she stood outside of room 302, facing the door. Her hand was reached out and on the doorknob. She took a deep breath before turning the knob and walking in.

"Hello, may I help you?" a tall, brunette, female teacher asked.

"Um, hi, my name is Lorelai Gilmore. I'm new."

"Oh, well, welcome Lorelai. I'm Mrs. Berkeley. Why don't you take a seat beside Lucas." she told her. "Lucas, can you raise your hand."

A boy in red flannel and a backwards blue baseball cap raised his hand and Lorelai went to sit next to him.

"Well, Lorelai, you came in at a good time. We are just going over everything we've learnt so far. Do you remember where you last left off in your school?"

"We were reading The Scarlet Letter."

"We are just about to start that. What chapter did you leave off on?"

"Chapter two."

"Well, that's good then. You seem to be ahead, so you should have no problem."

xox

The rest of the class went by fairly well. The read a little and were given their first reading assignment for chapter one of The Scarlet Letter. Because Lorelai had already read that, she wouldn't have to do it. Once the bell rang, she grabbed her stuff and walked out of the room and to her locker. She looked down at the piece of paper with her combination on it and began turning the dial.

_Oh my God, it won't open! Ugh, this is one of the many things I feared would happen. God, I hope I don't fall flat on my face next._

Lorelai pushed up on the latch that opened the locker, but it was jammed. She banged on the locker, but that was no help.

"Do you need help with that?" a voice behind her asked.

Lorelai turned around to find Lucas, the boy from her English class, looking at her and pointing at her locker.

"Oh, um, yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. These lockers are pretty old. They need to buy new ones." he said. "So, when did you move here?"

"Yesterday. I came from Hartford."

"Oh, what brought you to Stars Hollow?"

"I, uh..." Lorelai didn't know what to say. She didn't want to tell him she ran away, she was sure he'd think her as some kind of trouble maker who hated the world.

"Luke! There you are." a girl with red hair said, walking up to him.

"Oh... Rachel.. hi." he said.

"You didn't call me yesterday." the redhead asked.

Luke finally got the locker open and said with his back to the girl, "I had to help my dad out at the store." he told her. "There you go." he said to Lorelai, smiling.

"Thanks." Lorelai smiled back.

"Whose this?" Rachel asked suspiciously, looking at Lorelai.

"This is Lorelai. She's new. We have English together."

"Oh. So, you could have called me when you got home, you know."

"I have to get to class Rachel. I'll talk to you later. Bye Lorelai. It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, you too. Bye." she said, grabbing her Algebra book out and walking away after shutting the locker.

Her next two classes went by without much difficulty. Her and Sookie were walking out of French class together and heading to the cafeteria for lunch.

"So, did you meet anyone yet?" she asked.

"Well, this guy from my English class helped me open my locker. We didn't talk much, though. His name is Lucas."

"Oh, you mean Luke Danes? Flannel wearing, backwards baseball cap?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Yeah, he's one of the people in the group I hang out with. He has lunch with us."

"That's cool."

Sookie and Lorelai walked into the cafeteria and bought their lunches. They walked over to a table full of kids and sat down.

"Hey guys. This is Lorelai. She's new here." Sookie said the everyone. "Lorelai, this is Kirk, Andrew, Gypsy, Jackson, Rachel, and Luke, whom you already met." Sookie said, pointing each of them out.

"Hey." Luke said.

"Hi." she said back.

"So, Lorelai, where'd you come from?"

"Hartford."

"What school did you go to?" Jackson asked.

"Watkinson. It's a private school."

"Why'd you move to Stars Hollow?" Gypsy asked.

"Well, um, I actually, uh, ran away." she said quietly.

"You did?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah. I just, um, my parents were sort of trying to control me. We always fought. They wanted me to grow up, marry Christopher, my ex, and become a housewife of high society. I just couldn't take that. So I came here." she said, taking a sudden interest in her macaroni and cheese.

"Oh wow. I'm sorry to hear that." Sookie said sincerely.

"Thanks."

"So where are you staying?" asked Kirk.

"I work at the Independance Inn. Mia is letting me stay in the potting shed."

"Oh, Luke sometimes works at the Inn. He fixes things for Mia." Sookie told her.

"That's cool." she said, smiling at Luke.

He smiled back at her. Rachel saw him and jelousy overtook her.

"Hey, Luke, can we talk for a minute?" Rachel asked.

"Um, can it wait?"

"No, come on."

Rachel pulled his arm and dragged him out into the hallway.

"What is it Rachel?" Luke asked, a little annoyed.

"What is with you?" she asked angrily.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You never called me yesterday. In fact, you don't call that much these days, anyway. And now you are helping that new girl out, always smiling at her and stuff."

"I'm just trying to be nice."

"Yeah, sure."

"Look, Rachel, I don't think I can do this anymore."

"What!"

"I know what you did." he said, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything."

"How can you lie to my face? I'm not stupid Rachel. I know you slept with Kevin."

Rachel looked up at him, shocked. Her mouth moved, but words didn't come out.

"He was my best friend! What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled.

"He came onto me!"

Luke shook his head angrily. "Whatever Rachel. I'm done."

Luke walked back into the cafeteria, leaving Rachel standing there, gaping at him.

"Hey, everything ok?" Sookie asked him.

Luke shook his head and went back to eating his lunch.

xox

The rest of the day went by with a breeze. Lorelai got along with everyone just fine. The only one who didn't seem too fond of her was Rachel. She wasn't exactly sure why, she hadn't done anything wrong. After school, Lorelai headed to the Inn.

"So, how was it?" Mia asked her once she walked in.

"It was pretty good. I made some new friends." she told her.

"See, I told you you'd fit in." Mia smiled. "Are you ready to start work?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Please, Lorelai, call me Mia."

"Ok, Mia."

"That's more like it. Ok, let's just get you settled."

Mia gave Lorelai a uniform and showed her what to do. Lorelai was soon off to work, doing just as she had been instructed. She was currently in room 3, making the bed, when she heard Mia's voice.

"It's that window, Lucas. It's stuck and I can't fix it." Mia said, coming into the room. "Oh, hello Lorelai. This is Lucas. Lucas, this is Lorelai."

"Yeah, we met already." Luke said. "Hey."

"Hi." Lorelai said, feeling like an idiot in her uniform.

"Lorelai works here." Mia said.

"Yeah, she told me earlier."

"Well, it seems you two know each other well, already. I'll just leave you to that window." Mia said and left the room.

"You can call me Luke. Pretty much everyone does." he said to Lorelai.

"Ok, I will. So, everything ok?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Everyone just kind of noticed you were a little upset at lunch today."

"Oh, that. I, uh, broke up with Rachel. We'd been going out for a while."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, it was for the best. I had found out she'd slept with my best friend, Kevin. Well, we aren't exactly best friends anymore." Luke said, looking down.

"Ouch. Yeah, that happened to me to."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm over it. He was a jerk."

Lorelai went back to the bed, not really knowing what to say. Luke walked over to the window, starting to work on it. The two stayed silent for a while.

"Well, I better go. Nice seeing you again."

"Yeah, you too."

"See you tomorrow at school."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye." Luke waved and walked out of the room.

_He seems nice._ Lorelai thought and went back to work.

x

xo

xox

xo

x

I hope you liked it! Sorry I haven't updated. I'm busy with school right now. I have exams this week, and then on Thursday at 10:50, I'm out for the summer! I'll have more time to update ALL my stories then. Ok, so, Watkinson is an actual private school in Hartford, just so you know. And another thing, there is no Rory in here... yet... Will she be in here? I don't know. Keep reading. She may, she may not.


	3. Flashback to the Past

"Damn locker." Lorelai said, banging on it.

"Woah, someone's crabby." Sookie said, coming up behind her.

"No, it's just this locker won't ever open. It hates me, I swear."

"Forget that locker. You can share mine, if you'd like."

"Really?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thanks Sook."

"Come on, I'll take you to it." Sookie said, leading her down the hallway and to locker 2310. Sookie tore a piece of paper out of her spiral, wrote something on it, and handed it to Lorelai. "Here's the combination."

"Thank you Sookie. That locker was really getting on my nerves."

"You're welcome." she said, smiling. "Oh, hey Luke."

"Hi Sookie." Luke said, stopping at two lockers over and working the combination. "Hey Lorelai."

"Hi." Lorelai said, smiling and placing her books in her new locker.

"Ok, let's go or we'll be late for gym."

"Ugh, I wouldn't mind that."

Sookie laughed and they both walked off to gym together. It was Friday and so far, everything was going smooth for Lorelai. She'd officially been in school for a week. Now, she was headed to her least favorite class, gym. As the girls changed out in the locker room, Coach Ellis entered the room.

"Ok ladies, once you've changed out, head to the track. Today we'll be running the mile and I don't want to hear any complaints." she shouted.

"Bite me." Lorelai mumbled.

"What was that Miss Gilmore?"

"Uh.. I said ice tea. Yeah, I spilt ice tea on me today and was just telling Sookie." she covered as Sookie stifled a laugh.

Coach Ellis gave Lorelai a stern look and then walked back into her office.

"Niiiice." Sookie told her.

"Well, she's so.. ugh. It's like she has a stick permanently shoved up her ass."

Sookie laughed again. "Yeah, that is true. She's always been that way."

The two girls walked out of the locker room and met Gypsy outside the door. The three of them made their way out to the track, complaining about the hell they were about to endure.

"All right ladies, behind the line. When I blow my whistle, start running. I don't want to see any slackers." the coach said and then put the whistle to her lips and blew. All the girls groaned and began to run.

"This is hell." Lorelai said, panting and on her second lap.

"You can say that again." Gypsy said. "What's she going to do next? Tie us to a harness and make us pull her chariot across the track?"

"I think I'm going to faint!" Lorelai said dramatically, putting a hand to her forehead and falling back on Sookie.

Sookie laughed and caught her. "Ok, Miss drama queen. We get the point."

"Hmm.. maybe if it seemed real, Coach would let me sit out."

"Yeah, good luck with that."

"Hey, what's Rachel doing?" Gypsy asked as they jogged by the coach.

"Please, Coach Ellis, let me sit out. I don't know how much longer I can do this." Rachel panted, one hand resting on the coaches shoulder and one on her knee as she bent over.

"That's enough Miss Evans. Get your butt back on that track and move!" the coach yelled to her, pointing at the track.

"She looks pissed." Lorelai said.

"Rachel doesn't like it when she doesn't get her way." Gypsy said.

Lorelai looked at Rachel and then went back to her conversation with Sookie and Gypsy.

xox

"Hey, why don't we hang out tomorrow?" Sookie asked Lorelai on their way out of the school building.

"Sure, if I can walk." Lorelai said, grinning.

Sookie laughed. "Yeah, my legs are killing me. We can have a sleepover!" she said, excitedly.

"That sounds fun. I have to work from ten to five, but after that I'm free."

"Ok, I can pick you up at six and we can head to my place."

" Sounds like a plan." Lorelai said, smiling.

"All right, see you then."

"Bye." Lorelai said, waving.

"Bye."

As she walked home, she thought about this weeks events. She was starting to fit into the Stars Hollow life. It was such a small town, that everyone knew everyone. She had made a bunch of great friends and although she would never love school, it didn't seem too bad. It had only been a week, and already she felt like she belonged.

xox

After her afternoon shift, Lorelai took a shower and changed into her pajama's. She sat on her couch, thinking of what she could do. She felt pathetic. It was a Friday night and she had nowhere to be. Usually, she would wait until her parents went to bed and then climb out her window and hop into Christopher's porche and head to that night's party.

_Yeah, that was my life. Sneak out, get drunk, sneak back home. It's better that I'm sitting here with nothing to do than becoming my old self. _

As she sat there, she thought about her life before she moved to Stars Hollow. She thought about the night before she left.

xox

_"So, Lorelai, the Hayden's are having a dinner party next week." Emily said._

_"That's great, mother." Lorelai said, looking at her plate and playing with her food._

_"They would like you to join us."_

_"I don't think I'll be feeling well then."_

_"Why not?" Richard asked._

_"I'll be sick to my stomach and it will result in my throwing up at the sight of them."_

_"Lorelai Gilmore! What has gotten into you?"_

_"Nothing mother. May I please be excused?"_

_"No, you may not. You are going to that party."_

_"That's what you think." Lorelai mumbled under her breath._

_"What was that?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"Well, I think Christopher is a lovely boy, don't you Emily?"_

_"Yes I do. Him and Lorelai make a perfect match. He chooses his girls well."_

_"Excuse me?" Lorelai said aggrevatedly._

_"What?" Emily asked._

_"He did not choose me. I'm not a piece of meat."_

_"Nobody was referring to you as a piece of meat." Richard told her._

_"Whatever."_

_"He could be the one for you, Lorelai." Emily said, smirking._

_"Ugh.. mom, we're sixteen."_

_"So?"_

_"So, we're sixteen. I don't think anyone our age is thinking about marriage."_

_"Well, you are of marriagable age, Lorelai. Which reminds me, we should enter you into another Debutante Ball."_

_"I am not of marriagable age, and I'm not going to marry Christopher."_

_"I don't see why not. You could have a perfect life with him. He's a swell boy. He could become a successfull businessman like your father and you could become a lovely woman of respectable society."_

_"That's not the life I want."_

_"Oh really? Than what life do you want?"_

_"Definitely not this one!" she said, standing up._

_"And what is wrong with our life?" Emily asked angrily._

_"You're all fake! All you care about is how others see you! You think you guys know me?" she asked, laughing. "You don't know me." she said as she shook her head. "I'm sixteen years old and I sneak out of this house and party and drink. And you know what? You never once caught me."_

_"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore! Stop this nonsense now!" Richard yelled._

_"Oh my God." Emily said, shocked._

_"If you knew me at all, you would respect me. You would know where I was at every moment of the day. You would care about my feelings and what I want to do. I don't want these stupid coming out balls. I don't care about money. I'm sick of going to that damn private school where the kids only care about gossip and competing with each other to see how much they can get with daddy's money."_

_"That's enough!" Richard yelled._

_"I want a normal life! I want to go to public school and I want to live in a normal house that doesn't have seven rooms and a maid. That's another thing, I've been raised by maids my whole life. Yeah, some parents you are. I'm sick of you guys looking down at the people who aren't rich as if they are beneath you. At least they have respect for people. Honest respect. You want to know what I did last night? I snuck out of my bedroom window and hopped into Christopher's porche. We went over to Nevina Cutler's house because her parents are in Rome and she decided to throw a party. We got there and we had a few drinks. Chris tells me he'll be back and I just say ok and hang out with some of my fake friends. After about an hour, I start to wonder where he went off to. So, I get up and decide to search for him. I walk upstairs and into one of the rooms. And you know what I find? I find Christopher and somebody I thought was my best friend screwing each other!" by now, Lorelai was in tears and Richard and Emily were just staring at her in awe. "You still think I should marry him mom? Do you? I-I have to go."_

_Lorelai ran up the stairs and into her room. She locked the door after slamming it shut and slid down to the ground, her back resting against it. She buried her face in her hands and cried. She thought Chris loved her. He was the only one who really loved her, but yesterday she found out it was all a lie. They'd been going out since she was fourteen. How could he do this to her? How could he sleep with her best friend? _

_**Because he couldn't wait. He was tired of waiting. I told him I'd tell him when I was ready. He couldn't wait for me? It wasn't the right time. Apparently all he saw me for was sex. But he just couldn't wait to have sex. If I wouldn't give him it, he'd find someone who would. ** Lorelai thought._

_And her parents, where to begin? All she ever wanted was a real mother and father. One's who truly cared and loved her. She wanted her parents to throw some cheesy birthday party and go on about how their "little girl" was growing up. She wanted to be grounded for not doing her chores. She wanted to get a job and her liscence instead of being escorted around by a driver. _

_"What do you need a job for? We have money. And we also have a driver for you, so there's no point in a liscence." Emily had once told her._

_But most of all, she wanted to be normal. And there was only one way to get that. She got up, dug her suitcase out of her closet, and began tossing clothes inside._

xox

As Lorelai thought back to that night, tears began to sting her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She hadn't realized she was crying until she heard a voice from the doorway.

"Lorelai? Are you all right?" Mia asked softly, coming over to her and sitting down.

x

xo

xox

xo

x

So? What did you think? I just got out of school and now I have a bit more time to update. Just a little F.Y.I.- I made Rachel's last name up. And I know she's an adventurous person, but not in my fic. And I know it may seem that I don't really know where I'm going with this story, but I do. Trust me. I hope you guys liked it. : )


	4. My life then

"Wha- oh, yeah, I'm fine." Lorelai lied and wiped her eyes.

Mia, who didn't buy the lie, put an arm around Lorelai.

"You can tell me, you know. I'm a pretty good listener."

Lorelai sighed. Maybe if she told someone what was going on, she'd feel better.

"I was just thinking about my parents." she confessed.

"Oh. Is everything all right with them?"

"They're fine, just a little messed up in the head."

Mia looked at her with a confused expression.

"I ran away because of them."

"Did they treat you badly?"

"Well, they weren't abusive or anything like that if that's what you're thinking." Lorelai paused before continuing, trying to think of the best way to describe her parents. "I didn't get along with them, especially my mom. She was a very controlling person. I couldn't even have my room the way I wanted it. When I was eight, they bought me this dollhouse, and when I opened it, it still had the glass frame over it. I wasn't allowed to take it off or play with it. It was only for looks." she told Mia.

Mia sat, listening to the girl. She could tell she'd been keeping this bottled up for sometime. This frustration, anger.

"She was never really a mother, and my father was never much of a father. I was raised by nanny's my whole life. It was as if I was just some thing to show off to their friends. When I was five, I had the measles and my mother made me wear this hideous white dress with red polka dots and attend her always two week early Christmas dinner. The dress matched my face perfectly. She said I still had to present myself even though I was sick because it wouldn't look good on her part if I didn't show. And they're always making me go through all these stupid Coming Out balls."

"A Coming Out ball?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, they're these balls that the DAR, or Daughters of the American Revolution, hold. You wear white, fancy dresses, do this embarrassing fan dance, be presented by your father. It's basically a ball saying 'Hi, my name is Lorelai Gilmore. I'm of good breeding and am of marriageable age.'." she paused again before continuing. "They wanted me to marry my ex. Not now, but in the future. They said he was a good boy that came from a swell family. They wanted us to be just like they are. But, that's not the kind of life I want to live. Living the life they were providing was suffocating me. I just want to be a normal kid. I hated private school, and I hated that we had money. Being rich is the least important thing to me. But they made it seem like if you weren't rich, then you were scum."

Lorelai sighed and looked down at her hands, playing with them.

"They'd hate that I'm living here. If my mom found out I was attending public school and working as a maid, she'd have a heart attack. But, they aren't the only one's who's done wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't the best daughter in the world. I.. I always snuck out of the house. I was always doing things I knew they would hate, simply because they would hate it. I would party and drink. But I never had sex." she said, shaking her head. She didn't want Mia to think she was some wild teenager, because she really wasn't. "That's why my boyfriend and I broke up... because I wouldn't have sex with him. I just wasn't ready." she said, starting to cry again.

Mia held her closer and Lorelai buried her head in her shoulder.

"Now there is nothing wrong with not being ready for something like that. You're still young, you have so much to do before you're ready for something that big. If a guy can't have the decency to wait, then he's not worth it."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I broke it off. But, I hated going to those parties. I hated drinking and doing all this stuff and acting wild. I just did it because I knew it would make my parents mad."

"Honey, maybe you should call your parents."

"What?" Lorelai asked, pulling back. "No." she said, shaking her head. "I can't."

"They're probably worried about you Lorelai."

"I left them a note."

"But do they know where you are? Or if you're ok?"

Lorelai sat there silently before whispering, "No."

"I'm not saying you have to call them right this minute, but sometime soon. All I'm asking is that you tell them where you are and that you're ok."

The last thing Lorelai wanted to do was call her parents. She'd ran away to start her own life, a new life. She knew that if she called them they'd try to get her to come back, or possibly go after her and try to make her come back.

"I don't know Mia. I don't want them making me go back. I'm starting to adjust to my new life. I like it here."

"They can't make you go back Lorelai. Just call them, let them know you are fine and in good hands."

She knew Mia wasn't going to give up. She would have to call them. And Mia had been kind enough to make having life of her own possible for Lorelai. The least she could do for her was this.

"Ok.. I'll call them."

Mia smiled at her. "Thank you. Well, I better get going. I just came to tell you that you won't be needing to work tomorrow."

"Oh, thanks." she said, smiling back.

"Anytime. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

"Bye." Mia said as she walked to the door and let herself out.

Lorelai sat there for another hour, debating if she should call her parents tonight and get it over with, or wait until tomorrow. If she called tonight, it might go badly and she'd end up being more miserable than she had before. If she put it off until tomorrow, she'd be constantly thinking about it until then, and there was the possibility that they would try and come after her. She decided she'd go ahead and get it over with tonight. She picked up the phone on the table beside her and dialed the number.

"Hello, Gilmore residence. How may I help you?" a female voice on the other end answered, more than likely the new maid.

"Hello, this is Lorelai Gilmore, is Richard or Emily home?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes ma'am they are, hold on a second." the voice told her.

Lorelai waited, twirling a piece of hair nervously in her fingers.

"Hello? Lorelai?" Emily's voice replied.

"Mom... hi." Lorelai said.

"Where are you?" Emily demanded.

"Mom, I'm fine. I've found a place to live and a job and I'm going to school."

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, I demand you come back home at once!" Emily said angrily.

"Emily, please, calm down. Give me the phone." Lorelai heard her father say in the background.

"No, I will not give you this phone!" Emily argued.

"Emily." Richard said sternly before taking the phone away from his wife. "Lorelai?" he asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

"Dad, hi." she said nervously.

"Are you all right?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes, dad, I'm fine."

"So.. I take it you're not coming back?"

Lorelai paused, not wanting to answer him. She knew the answer she was about to give would break his heart.

"No, dad, I.. I'm not." she said, closing her eyes as she waited for him to reply.

"I see." he said, disappointment very evident in his voice.

"Dad, I'm sorry I left like that.. but I had to. I needed to get away. I love you and mom, but I just didn't want that kind of life."

"I know. You made that very clear at our last dinner together." he said a bit harshly.

"I'm happy dad. I have a job, a home, I go to school and I've made some really nice friends. I feel comfortable here."

"Where are you?"

"I.. I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Because, I know you and mom will just try and make me go back home."

Richard sighed. He wanted his daughter back home where he believed she belonged, but he wanted her to be happy. He also knew that if he forced her back home, she'd just run away, no matter how many times he tried to stop her.

"I'm not going to make you come home, Lorelai."

Lorelai was shocked and stayed silent for a minute. She couldn't believe he'd just said that.

"Seriously?" she questioned.

"Yes, if you truly are happy, then I will let you be. I just would like to know where you are, what school you go to, and what job you have."

Lorelai was a little suspicious, but something in his voice told him he was being honest to her.

"I'm living in a little town called Stars Hollow where I go to Stars Hollow High and work as a maid at the Independence Inn."

"You work as a maid?" he asked, appalled.

"Yes, dad, I am. I know you hate that idea, but there's nothing you can do about it. I'm sorry."

"Yes, well... thank you for calling Lorelai."

"You're welcome."

"Please keep in touch and tell us how you're doing every so often."

"I will dad."

"Ok, then. Goodbye."

"Bye."

Lorelai hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief.

_Well, that wasn't so bad. Could have been worse._ she thought.

xox

Richard put the phone back down on the receiver.

"So?" Emily questioned.

"She's living in Stars Hollow." he told her.

"Stars Hollow? Where in the world is that?"

"I think I've heard of it before. It's about thirty minutes from here."

"Oh."

"Yes, and she goes to Stars Hollow High and works as a maid at the Independence Inn."

"A maid!" she screeched.

Richard closed his eyes. "Emily, please. She's happy."

"Happy? She gave up everything we'd given to her to live her life as a maid! I can't believe this. We're going there to get her and bring her back."

"No, we are not."

"What do you mean 'no'? You think I'm going to let my daughter live like that? I don't think so! What will people say? Absolutely not, we're going." Emily said, making her way over to the door.

"Emily, I said no. Lorelai is on her own now. She like's her new life, and I'm going to respect that. I just hope you do the same."

Emily's face hardened. She turned around and stormed up the stairs. Richard shook his head. This was definitely not going to be easy the next couple of months.

-----

**A/N: **Ok, well, this might be the last update before I leave. But, don't worry, when I return I promise to update! This chapter could have been longer, but it would have been too long. So, I broke it up into two seperate parts. You'll get the next part most likely when I come back. Hope you enjoyed this!

_Next on A new home, a new life- Lorelai goes over to Sookie's to spend the night. A certain someone gets jealous of Lorelai and confronts her._


	5. Battle of the bitches

Lorelai woke up the next morning around 10:30. She yawned, stretched, and got out of bed. Making a pot of coffee, she got ready to start the day. She started with a shower, then did her hair and makeup, and then had three cups of coffee and cereal.

It felt good to have the day off, but she wouldn't be doing anything until six that night. There wasn't much to do, so she decided to go and take a walk. Putting on her jacket, she walked out of the potting shed, otherwise known as her new home. She decided she'd drop in at Weston's to pay Fran a visit. After all, without her help, she wouldn't have gotten her job.

Making her way down the streets of Stars Hollow, she shielded her face against the fierce, chilly, winter-approaching winds by looking down at the ground. It took her about ten minutes to reach her destination. She opened the door and and walked into the bakery and up to the counter.

"Lorelai, dear, how are you? Mia told me she gave you that job." Fran said, smiling at the girl when she saw her.

"Yes she did, and I have you to thank." she said, smiling back.

"Oh, now, I didn't do anything." Fran said, waving it off.

"You did. Hadn't you recommended it, I wouldn't have landed it."

"Well, I'm glad to have come to some use. How are you liking it here?" she asked.

"I love it! It's so different from where I came from. I'm really happy here."

"Yeah, this is a great place." she said. "Would you like anything?"

"Yes, I'll have a coffee to go, please." she said.

"Coming right up." Fran said and then turned her back to pour coffee into a to-go cup for her. "Here you go."

Lorelai took the cup, paid, said 'thank you', and left. She roamed the streets, enjoying the fresh air. It felt nice to just walk around and get lost in her thoughts. It was peaceful. She looked around her and observed the activity in the town square. A few kids were playing in a pile of leaves, a group of teenage boys stood in front of the school playing football, a few mothers pushed strollers around while chatting to one another.

It was typical small town. Not much excitement happened, but that's what Lorelai loved about it. It was a plain and simple, no worries kind of place. Stars Hollow was beautiful, much different than Hartford. It was laid back and low maintenance. Well, except for Taylor Doose. He was a middle-aged man that liked to do nothing but gripe. Everything had to be perfect with him.

It was odd how fast she was accepted in the town. The people seemed to like her and she got along well with them. Everyone was just so kind to her. Though, Taylor had been a little skepticle about her. He thought she was some hoodlem here to wreck havock on the town. But, other than that, she fit right in. Maybe it was because she was like them. Simple and plain. Although, no one in the town was normal. Kirk was weird, Babette and Miss Patty were two of the nosiest women in town who loved to gossip, Taylor was... well... Taylor, and so forth. But she loved it all the same.

"Hey." a voice beside her said and breaking her from her thoughts.

Lorelai turned her head and saw a flannel clad, blue backwards baseball cap wearing boy walking alongside her.

"Oh, hey Luke. Where'd you come from?" she asked.

"I'm taking my break. I work at my dads hardware store."

"William's Hardware?" she asked, remembering seeing the store when she first arrived.

"The one and only." he nodded and said.

"Cool. I got the day off."

"That's lucky. Wish I could have the day off." he said, laughing a little.

"Yeah, well, I was lucky. I was supposed to work today. Although, I'm glad I didn't have to."

"Yeah, I think school is enough for us all."

"Ugh, I know. I hate gym, and history, and French. I don't mind English and science, though."

"Yeah, I'm ok in English. I'm not so bad in any of my classes, actually. Except Spanish."

"I took Spanish at my old school and sucked. That's why I signed up for French."

"You seem to be in some pretty advanced classes." he noted.

"I came from a pretty advanced school."

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, glad to be out of there, though."

"Do you like it here?"

"I love it here. Everything about this place, I just, I love it. A lot different from my old world."

"Yeah, Stars Hollow is a nice place, but the residents are crazy."

Lorelai laughed. "Yeah, I'll agree with that. But, if the residents are crazy, then I guess that means we are as well, seeing as we are residents."

"Maybe. But, not nearly as insane as they are."

"Do you think you'll stay here?"

"In Stars Hollow?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah." Luke sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "No matter how much this town bugs me, it's where I grew up. Everything in my life happened here. I don't think I'll ever leave this place."

"What about college?"

"I dunno. It's a maybe. But, I don't think I'll go."

"You seem pretty smart. You should go."

"I might." he said, and then asked. "What about you?"

Lorelai sighed. "I don't know. It's my parents dream for me to graduate high school and go to Yale and become a successful business woman or exactly like my mother. I don't want that, though. College would be a smart thing to do, but I'm not sure if I'll be going."

Luke nodded his head. Lorelai took a sip of her coffee, enjoying the warm sensation it made as it trickled down her throat as they walked along the chilly streets of Stars Hollow.

"That stuff will kill you, you know?" Luke told her.

"What? Coffee?"

"Yup."

"How could you say that? It's great! It's my life." she said, laughing.

"It's basically death in the form of liquid. It's liquid death."

"I think you're crazy." she told him.

"Well, I think we pretty much established that much about us all. But, you're even crazier if you drink that stuff."

"Uh huh. Are you seriously telling me you've never had coffee before?" she said, tilting her head and looking at him.

"Not once. I make it for my dad, though. He likes it." he said, looking back at her.

"Wow. You don't know what you're missing." she stated.

"Oh, I don't think I'm missing anything."

"You must be a health nut, right?"

"Let's just say I don't eat stuff that'll clog your arteries."

Lorelai laughed once more. She was enjoying talking to Luke. He was pretty funny, and entertaining. He wasn't a jerk like the ones she used to know. Luke was different. He had respect for people, he had morals. She liked that about him. Although, she'd only known him a week.

"Lorelai?" someone asked from a distance.

Lorelai looked around to see Sookie walking towards her.

"Hey Sook." she said.

"I thought you had work today?" Sookie asked.

"Well, I was supposed to. Mia told me last night I had the day off, so I decided to take a walk and then I was going to call you." she told her friend. She wasn't lying. She really had intended on calling Sookie once she got home. But, seeing as she was with Sookie now, she wouldn't have to do that.

"Oh, that's cool. We'll have more time to spend together!" the redhead said, starting to get excited. "Oh, hey Luke. What's up?" she asked, just realizing he was there.

"Nothing much. Just taking my break. I should get back, though." he told them.

"Ok, see you around." Sookie said.

"Bye, Luke. Nice talking to you." Lorelai said.

"You too. Bye." and with that, he headed the opposite direction.

"You and Luke were talking?"

"Yeah. Is that a bad thing?" Lorelai asked, confused.

"No, it's not. It's just, Luke isn't normally one to chat with people if he's not at school."

"Oh. Is he anti-social?"

"Not exactly. He's just Luke. Kind of grumpy, keeps to himself. He's not a complete social outcast, though."

"I get that."

"Yeah, so what would you like to do?"

"Anything's fine with me. We can swing by my place and get my stuff." she suggested.

"Ok, sounds good to me."

The two walked together to the Independence Inn, chatting along the way.

"You live in the Independence Inn?" Sookie asked once they came into view of it.

"No, I live in the potting shed behind the Inn." Lorelai corrected her and made her way to her home. She unlocked the door and walked inside.

"Wow." Sookie said.

"What?"

"You live on your own. Here, in this potting shed. You have complete and total privacy. You are very privileged."

"I am. But, you are, too."

"Yeah, I have two over protective parents. Very privileged."

"Yeah, but, they care enough for you to be protective. The only thing my parent protected me from was the middle and low class society. Very stuck up, if you ask me."

"Yeah, I guess I am lucky when you put it that way."

Lorelai gathered some stuff together in an overnight bag and walked out of her home.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. Let's take your stuff to my place and then we can hit Doose's and buy a whole bunch of junk food and then go rent movies."

"Sounds great." Lorelai said, smiling. "We'll have a movie night."

"Yes we shall." Sookie said, smiling back.

xox

The two girl spent most of the day eating junk food and watching movies. Both were currently sitting in Sookie's room in their pj's, each eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

"So, how much different is it here than in Hartford?" Sookie asked.

"It's very different." Lorelai said, scooping some ice cream into her mouth.

"How?"

"Well, for one, Hartford is about twice the size of Stars Hollow. Most of the people there have a lot of money. It's not as laid back as it is here."

"So you like it here better?"

"Much better."

Sookie nodded. They sat in silence for a few seconds, before "Do your parents know where you are?" she asked. "You don't have to answer. I was just wondering."

Sookie shut herself up by shoveling her spoon into her mouth.

"It's ok. I called them yesterday and told them where I was and all."

"Where they mad?"

Lorelai sighed. "Well, my mom was. She was furious. She tried to make me come back. But, my dad... well, he took it better than I thought."

"That's good. Are you going to go to the Fall Festival?" Sookie asked.

"The what?" Lorelai asked, scrunching her face up in confusion.

"The Fall Festival. We have a town event for every season and holiday." Sookie explained.

"Oh, well, when is it?"

"Halloween night."

"Cool, sounds fun."

"Good. So, you'll go?"

"Sure."

"I can't wait!" Sookie said.

xox

The next day, Lorelai was coming out of the supply store, having bought poster and other necessities for a project she had in World History. She was walking home, eager to get the project over and done with.

_This is what I get for procrastinating._ she thought to herself.

"Hey." a not so friendly voice called.

Lorelai looked up and saw Rachel standing before her.

"Oh, uh, Rachel, hi." she said.

"What's that for." Rachel said, nodding to the poster.

"Project for history." she answered.

"Oh." Rachel said. "So, um, what's going on with you and Luke?"

"What? What are you talking about." she asked, genuinely confused and taken aback by this bit of randomness.

"I saw the two of you talking yesterday."

"Oh, well, we were talking is all. Why?"

"You do know that Luke and I are together, right?" Rachel asked.

"I thought the two of you broke up?" Lorelai asked.

She thought it was weird that Rachel was talking to her about this. She didn't really understand where it was that she was getting at.

"It was all a misunderstanding. We're back together now."

"O...k?" Lorelai asked, a bit confused on the subject they were speaking of.

"Just thought I should tell you before you tried anything else."

"Anything else? Rachel, what are you-?"

"Don't play dumb." Rachel said, shaking her head. "It's pretty obvious you're trying to get with Luke. I figured I'd warn you, so you could stop fooling yourself. "

Lorelai laughed, appalled. "Uh, excuse me? You call talking to him trying to 'get with' him? Sorry to say, honey, but the only one fooling themself is you."

Lorelai was really beginning to hate this girl. She seemed to think a lot of herself. Sure, Lorelai thought Luke was a sweet guy and cute, but she wasn't trying to 'get with' him. She barely knew him.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked defensively.

"To be honest, I could care less what you think of me. I'm not the one going around and sleeping with my boyfriends best friend. That, my dear, is you. The only one hurting themself is Luke. Why he would give some backstabbing bitch another chance is beyond me. But, hey, whatever. I barely know him, and yet, you walk up to me thinking you're all high and mighty telling me to back off of him when I'm not even near him."

"You listen you little bitch, this is my town. You stay away from me and you stay away from Luke." Rachel said, pointing a finger threateningly at Lorelai.

"Oh, I have no problem staying away from you. And, I'm here now, so accept that, because I'm not going anywhere." Lorelai stated in complete confidence.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Rachel said, starting to advance on her.

"Rachel!" a voice behind them called. "What the hell are you doing?"

Both girls turned to see Luke.

"Oh, hey hun. Nothing. I'm just having a little chat here with Lorelai." she said innocently.

"Uh huh. What are you telling her? To stay away from me? That we are back together?" Luke asked knowingly. "Why do you do this Rachel? Every time we break up you do this. You tell people to back off and then spread lies. I told you, we're over. For good this time. Just accept it."

Lorelai had stood their quietly, letting the two talk.

"Please," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "you'll change your mind."

"No, not this time. I'm serious. I'm done."

Rachel looked at Luke and then at Lorelai, turned on her heel, and stormed off. Lorelai looked away and Luke looked at the ground, shifting from foot to foot.

"I'm, uh, sorry about that. Rachel tends to get a little jealous." Luke said, breaking the silence.

"It's no problem. I can fend for myself. Sorry if we caused a scene."

"No, it wasn't you. She's the one who caused a scene. I just happened to witness it."

"Oh.. how much did you hear?"

"Um, somewhere around 'Why he would give some backstabbing bitch another chance is beyond me.'." he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just-" she began.

"It's fine." he cut her off. "You're right. I shouldn't keep going back to her. Although, I haven't since this last and final breakup."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's fine." he said.

Lorelai nodded. "Well, I better go. I have to get started on this project."

"Ok. See you at school tomorrow."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye."

Lorelai walked home, thinking about all that had just happened. Rachel could threaten her and confront her, but that wouldn't be enough to make Lorelai leave. If she wanted to play games, then fine be it by her.

-----

**A/N: **Ok, I know I made Rachel seem more evil than she actually is, but I hate her. All of this stuff is just something to get you through the beginning and onto the real part of the story. Hope you enjoyed this piece of nothinigness! lol

_Next on A new home, a new life- tune in to find out!_


	6. Daddy Danes?

Lorelai was sitting in her first period class, starting a paper she had due the next day and glancing at the clock every now and then.

"Ok, everyone. I need your attention, please," Mrs. Berkeley said. "Now, I realize it's only October, but the semester is coming to an end. I've decided that for our semester exam, I am going to put you into pairs and you are going to be working on a project that you will turn in the last week before Christmas break.

This years assignment is to read Hamlet by William Shakespeare and write your own modern day version of it. Now, I'm giving you two months time to do this, so I don't want any excuses as to why you've not done the project. There are five acts, so I want you to write out five acts and all the scenes in the act. The scenes do not have to be long, but I'm expecting to see that you have put in an effort."

Many groans and complaints could be heard throughout the classroom. Lorelai herself rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms.

"It's either that or a two hundred question test with three essays," the teacher said. At that, the class suddenly became quiet. "That's what I thought. And now, with that established, I will now put you into pairs."

She began calling out the names and Lorelai went back to her paper. She wanted to get as much homework done as possible at school, that way she wouldn't have to stay up late after work. As she brought herself back to her paper, she fell into her own world.

"Miss Gilmore,"

"Huh?" Lorelai said, looking up.

"You will pair up with Mr. Danes."

"Oh," Lorelai said, looking at Luke and then back at the teacher. "Ok,"

The bell rang and Lorelai gathered her stuff together and got up.

"Everyone be sure to grab a copy of Hamlet out of the box at the front of the room before you leave," Mrs. Berkeley called out.

Lorelai walked up to the front of the room and grabbed a book out. She began walking out and realized that someone was standing beside her.

"Oh, hey Luke," she said, looking up at him.

"Hey," he said, and began thumbing through the book. "Pretty tough assignment we have here, huh?"

"Ugh, I know. Not that the other option was much better, but I still don't like the idea of this project,"

"I guess it's our only option. Anyway, we should probably start meeting up occasionally and get this thing done as soon as possible. The sooner it's finished with, the sooner we can relax. That is, at least until we have to start studying for other semester exams," he said as they walked to their lockers.

"Yeah, sure. That sounds fine with me. When and where?"

"We could meet up at my house on... lets say, twice a week?"

"Ok, I have work on the weekdays from four to nine and on Saturday's from ten to five," she told Luke.

"Well, I have track practice on the weekdays, and then afterwards I help my dad with his hardware store. I don't do anything on the weekends, though. How about Saturday's and Sunday's? Around six?"

"That could work. Just give me your address so I'll know where to go," she said, stopping at her locker and working the combination.

"Ok," Luke said, writing down the address on a sheet of paper and tearing it out of his binder. "Here you go,"

Lorelai took the paper and folded it up before slipping it into her backpack. As she closed her locker, she heard a voice call out behind them.

"Looks like you scored, Butch!"

Both Luke and Lorelai turned around to see one of the jocks laughing as he high fived another idiot jock.

"Butch?" Lorelai asked.

"It's some crazy nickname people gave me. I personally hate it," he told Lorelai and then directed to the jock, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Aw, come on, Butch. No need to be ashamed," the jock said, coming up to Luke and throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"I repeat, what the hell are you talking about?" Luke asked, shrugging the arm off.

"It's not everyday that one of us knocks up a girl. So, how'd it happen? Was she good?"

"What?" Luke asked, utterly confused.

"Rachel, you know? Your ex? Rumor has it she's carrying your kid. But, you'd already know that, now wouldn't you?"

Lorelai watched as the expression on Luke's face went from confusion, to pure shock. The color in his face drained to white and it seemed as if he'd lost all capability of speech. Lorelai, also, wasn't expecting what she'd just heard.

"Or... I guess you didn't know," the jock said, taking a look at Luke and then walking off.

The two of them stood alone for a few minutes in uncomfortable silence. Lorelai cleared her throat and then asked, "Uh, Luke, are you... are you ok?"

"Huh?" he asked, shaking his head and looking at her. "Oh.. yeah, yeah I'm, uh, I'm f-fi... I'm going to go."

Lorelai just nodded her head as she watched him walk away.

xox

By the time Lorelai sat down for lunch, the entire school was talking about Luke and Rachel. Everyone knew that Lorelai witnessed when Luke found out, therefore she had been bugged by many people wanting to know what was going on and if the rumors were true.

"So, did he tell you anything? Who told the guy that Rachel might be pregnant?"

Lorelai let out a frustrated sigh, "Sookie, for the last time, I don't know. Let's not talk about it right now, ok? I don't want to spread things around,"

"Oh, trust me, it's been spread,"

"Yes, but I don't want to be apart of the spreading,"

"Ok, ok. Consider it dropped,"

Lorelai looked around the lunch room. Luke was nowhere to be seen. In fact, nobody had spoken to, or seen, Luke since he had walked off earlier.

All around, people were whispering. Some occasionally pointing at Lorelai. The one and only thing, besides Rachel, that she did not like about Stars Hollow was the fact that everyone was in your business and it was impossible to keep a secret.

Lorelai couldn't help but feel bad for Luke. It was a bit of a shock on everyone, but after seeing his reaction, she felt sorry for him. Then again, you must pay the consequences for your actions.

xox

"What the hell are you thinking going around telling people that you're pregnant with my baby?" Luke angrily asked Rachel. After he had left Lorelai, he sought out to find Rachel and then dragged her from the school so they could talk.

"Well, I am,"

"Rachel, I slept with you one time. One time, and it was three months ago. Not to mention, we were both extremely drunk. If we hadn't consumed so much alcohol, I wouldn't have slept with you,"

"Luke, I'm not stupid. I know that,"

"That kid cannot be mine. You would have found out long ago if it were. It has to be Kevin's,"

"And how do you know that it's Kevin's,"

"Because he was the last person you slept with. At least, to my knowledge," at that, Rachel's faced changed to a pissed off expression.

"Are you calling me a slut?"

"No, I'm not calling you a slut. I'm not that low. But, you cannot go around telling people that you are pregnant with my baby, when you aren't even sure if it's mine in the first place!"

"But it is yours!"

"How do you know that, Rachel? You don't. You _want_ it to be mine, but you don't know if it is or not. You slept with Kevin three weeks ago, you can't be so dead set that I'm the father. What is wrong with you? I can't believe you would go around telling people something like that without even telling me first! What about Kevin? Did you tell him about this?"

"There is nothing to tell Kevin,"

"When did you suspect this?"

"Suspect what?"

"That you were... you know," he said, coughing and looking down.

"A week ago,"

"A week ago? Rachel, can't you see, that's not my baby. If it were, you would have suspected sooner,"

"You don't know that,"

"Come on, Rachel," Luke said, shaking his head frustratedly and putting his hands over his face. He let out a deep sigh and then looked at her. "I want you to make a doctors appointment. Can't they tell when the baby has been conceived? Just, make the appointment. I want to know for a fact whether it's mine or not,"

"It is yours,"

"No, I'm not going to go nine months believing it is my kid, only to find out that it's not. I don't want that to happen. Make the damn appointment. I'm coming with you, so be sure to tell me when it is," he said and began walking off.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked.

"To think," he said and turned the corner of the street, disappearing from view.

xox

Luke walked around for two hours before he decided to go to his dad's hardware store. He took a deep breath before he opened the door and walked in. He'd have to tell William. The whole town would know before the end of the day. He didn't want his dad finding out something like this from one of the townspeople.

"Luke, what are you doing here? School doesn't let out for another three hours," William said.

"Dad, can I, uh, talk to you?"

"Is everything ok?" he asked, worried.

"Let's go up to the office, ok?" Luke said, not waiting for his dad to respond and walking upstairs.

William followed behind his son and then walked into the office, sitting at his desk and folding his hands on top of the desk.

"Lucas, what is going on?" he asked.

Luke, who had been pacing in front of his dad, trying to figure out how to tell him the news, looked up.

"Dad, I... I know that you've told me that I should always think before I act, and I usually do. Um, but, three months ago at the fourth of July festival, I didn't think,"

"What did you do?"

"I, I mean, Rachel and I had some of Miss Patty's punch. Actually, we had a lot,"

William sighed heavily, already knowing what had happened.

"Lucas Anthony Danes, how could you let this happen?" Willaim asked, a mix of anger and disappointment in his voice.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I just found out today. If I hadn't of drank any of that punch, I would have never have slept with her,"

"Is she positive?" William asked.

"There's more to it," Luke told him.

"How can there be more?"

"Dad, the reason Rachel and I broke up is because she slept with Kevin behind my back,"

"Kevin? You mean the Kevin you always hang out with? She cheated on you with him?"

Luke just shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded.

"Son," William said, shaking his head and resting it in his hands. "You have yourself in a real predicament here."

Luke just stood silently. He felt guilty for making his father go through this. It was hard enough he was raising two teenagers by himself, one of them being wild. The least he needed now was for his son to inform him that he might be a grandfather. If it was one thing Luke hated, it was disappointing his father. He tried to be the best son he could, especially after his mother had passed away.

"So, what are you going to do?" William asked him after a few minutes.

Luke sighed. "I told Rachel to make a doctor's appointment. I want to know for a fact how far along she is. That way I'll be able to know if it is mine or not. But, dad, you have to believe me, I would have never slept with her. Or any girl for that matter. At least not yet. I would have waited longer before doing so. It was a mistake, a big one. I shouldn't've drank any of that punch, it was my own fault I did that."

"Luke, I know. I understand the situation. I would prefer you to wait until you were married, just like any other parent would prefer of their kid. But, I realize that to today's generation, that doesn't exactly matter as much anymore. I thought we had this talk before? You shouldn't be drinking, Lucas. You are only seventeen. What if your coach hears of this? You could get kicked off the team,"

"I know, I know," Luke sighed and hung his head.

"What are you going to do if she is, Lucas?"

"Let's just wait and see what the doctor says, ok?"

William sighed. "Get your homework done and then meet me back downstairs to begin your shift,"

With that, William got up and left the room, leaving Luke staring at the closed door.

-----

**A/N:** I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know it has been** forever** since I updated! I've been so busy lately. Honest to God. I haven't been getting home til after 10 almost every night and then I have homework to do and don't go to bed til 12:30 or 1 am and then on the weekends, I'm so exhausted from lack of sleep and _still _have tons of homework (essays, essays, essays... blah!) so I sleep in and work all day on the essays. I'm going to try hard to update all my fics as much as I can!


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